Two-year expansion, remodeling of Arkell Museum complete

The Arkell Museum, located at 2 Erie Blvd., Canajoharie, celebrated its grand opening Sunday after nearly two years of renovation and remodeling.

Dana C. Silano

The Arkell Museum, located at 2 Erie Blvd., Canajoharie, celebrated its grand opening Sunday after nearly two years of renovation and remodeling.

Commissioned to take on the project was Boston-based architectural firm Ann Beha Architects, to expand the Arkell Gallery and Library into a the Arkell Museum and Library. Located just opposite of the Beech-Nut factory, the museum’s expansion was a long, progressive enhancement project.

This is not the first time the facility has had a make-over or an update, according to Director Eric Trahan.

“The building was built in 1925, expanded in 1927 and then it doubled its library space in 1965,” he said. “Again in 1990, the facilities were expanded. So really, it’s been about five times.”

Trahan said the library and museum space was doubled, a project which, in all, cost about $10.5 million.

“Groundbreaking began in August 2005,” Trahan said. “Of the money spent on this project, roughly $1.5 million was from flood recovery, and much of the rest was from the generosity of the Arkell Hall Foundation. We wanted to be able to do more with our art collection, to benefit the community and to entice tourists and travelers. We wanted a facility worthy of the art gallery we have.”

In doubling the facilities, which include a classroom and the community art gallery, more of the original pieces can be on display at one time.

Founded in the 1880s, the library was first incorporated in 1914 and then constructed in 1925 as a public library and museum of American art. It holds permanent galleries in excess of 350 paintings and sculptures, boasting original works from such artists as Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keefe, James Whistler, Andrew Wyeth, Grandma Moses, Frederick Remington, Reginald Marsh, William Bartlett and Winslow Homer.

An article published in The Leader-Herald on July 1, 1925, said “The cost of the building is estimated at $25,000, and the interior probably costs many thousands more. The building follows the lines of an ancient dwelling house. The interior is arranged in two parts, one side with small chairs and tables for children. As yet, no books have been placed upon the shelves, which have been installed by the Library Bureau of Ilion. There are no heating plants in the library. Pipes, however, run from the library cellar into the Beech Nut boiler room.”

According to the Canajoharie-Palatine Chamber of Commerce, Canajoharie was one of the first villages in the area to have a library.

It began as a group effort by a committee of local women who promoted the donation of one book by each village citizen.

At one point, the school took in the book collection.

The building facilities erected in 1925 were sponsored by the founder and first president of Beech-Nut Packing Company, Bartlett Arkell, an avid arts collector who donated many paintings. The library and museum are named after his father, James, inventor of the paper bag.

He sponsored it as a gift to the village he was raised in.

“Every painting and sculpture Bartlett purchased was for this gallery,” said Deputy Director and Chief Curator Diane Forsberg, an art historian who recently relocated to take on the tasks she is assigned at the museum. Prior to this, she worked at the Mark Twain House in Connecticut.

In the community room, a large map of the Mohawk Valley is the floor. On one large wall in the room, a painting of the Mohawk River and valley surrounding it is cast as a large mural. The original hangs in one of the museum’s newer galleries.

“At least two galleries and a corridor gallery are new to the building,” she said.

Some of the original artworks also include advertisement illustrations, including the work of Saturday Evening Post artist Normal Rockwell.

Arkell family films show in a corridor, along with ads, marketing campaigns, filming of the World’s Fair and family photographs.

Because the Arkell family was so key to the Beech-Nut Corporation, it is directly affiliated with and incorporated into the museum’s galleries.

“Looking at several of the photos in the marketing files for Beech-Nut, there are many Mohawk Valley scenes depicted in the advertisements,” Forsberg said.

There is even an interactive room, where Forsberg said visitors can construct their own advertisement or postcard to take home with them as a souvenir, or where they can see the lithographic process of making a Beech Nut holiday tin.

Sadly, according to Forsberg, at least 600 art books in the library were destroyed during the flooding of 2006; the summer when, in June and July, several area towns and villages along the Erie Canal and Mohawk River and their tributaries spilled over their banks for several days. Canajoharie was severely affected, and as a result at least one gallery room at the library had to be completely re-constructed.

Visitors to the museum, and residents of the area, can also visit the garden, where, amidst a pool and fountain stands an original piece by Harriet Frishmuth, called Humoreque, a bronze statue. “We really hope to attract people who want to stop by, view the art or even just sit in the garden and read a book or enjoy a cup of coffee,” Forsberg said.

All of the opening day events were sponsored by the Arkell Hall Foundation.

For more information about the museum, visit www.arkellmuseum.org or call 518-673-2314.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.